14 - It's a Deal

"No, Em. No way."

"Pleeeeease?" Emily begged, her sorrowful brown eyes boring into Alison's.

The next day, the girls woke up at Aria's house after they had slept over. Emily had heard a while ago from her teammates on the swim team that there was a swimming convention in town, and rumor has it that Missy Franklin was going to be there. Emily instantly wanted to go, but she wasn't very close with any of the girls on the team, so in that morning when she woke up, she asked her girlfriend to come with her. Alison rushed to claim it would be "boring". She was never a big fan of her girlfriend's sport.

"Em, it'll be so arid. I won't know anyone there!" Alison whined as she thought about who was going to be in that event. All of those enthusiastic swimmers that she wanted nothing to do with. She only wanted one particular swimmer in her life.

"You'll know me," Emily argued softly, trying to convince the blonde to come.

"Yeah, only you, in a sea of swimmers," Alison stated back.

"Sea," Emily giggled at the unintentional swimmers-sea pun, getting Alison to raise an eyebrow at her until the brunette cleared her throat, "sorry."

Alison sighed. She didn't want to go to that convention, but Emily was right. Even if she wouldn't know anyone there, Emily would still be attending, and that was reason enough for her to go.

"Okay, fine," she relented, then smirked, "but you have to give me something in return."

"Anything." Emily agreed charmingly, glad that the blonde had agreed.

"Take me on a date, Em. The movies, tonight," Alison declared the offer proudly.

"A-A date?" Emily raised her eyes to Alison's.

"It's about time we had our first official one, don't you think?" the blonde asked as she tilted her head with a barely-smothered grin.

"Yeah," Emily accepted, nodding her head with a timid smile. "It's a deal," she shook her girlfriend's hand playfully, before using the same hand to pull Alison closer to her and kiss her sweetly.

XXXXX

'Ugh, why did I agree to come here?' Alison thought reluctantly. Emily was standing next to her, talking animatedly to some girl in front of them. Alison wasn't paying attention to their conversation but she recalled them mentioning the words "strokes" and "team" more than once. And that concluded pretty much everything she knew about swimming.

They were standing in line to meet Missy Franklin, a line that was way too long in Alison's opinion. So much noise was coming from every direction, since there was a decent amount of turn up to the event. Alison guessed it was because it was very rare that an Olympic gold-medalist was visiting their small town and a lot of people wanted to see her. She couldn't wait to get out of that mess so Emily could take her home and then to the movies.

"Emily?" a familiar female voice called out from a distance. Alison practically groaned in disapproval once she recognized who the unpleasant voice belonged to.

She turned around to see Paige McCullers walking towards them. The girl who was talking to Emily had already left, thus leaving Emily alone with Alison. 'And pigskin,' the blonde thought exasperatedly.

"Hi, Paige. Ready to meet Missy?" Emily asked her teammate enthusiastically. Alison didn't dare to speak because she knew that if she did, all of her wrath towards Paige would be released and Emily would be reminded of the fact that her girlfriend hated one of her teammates. So instead, she clamped her mouth shut and tried to look away nonchalantly, acting as if she was suddenly interested in the big blue banner that declared "Annual Rosewood Swim Convention" in bright letters.

"I am! I've met her before, actually," Paige responded, trying to sound impassive, but Alison knew the girl was nervous about talking to Emily, which was why she was surprised when she had even approached them in the first place.

Alison liked to think she had a talent for reading people, some sort of sixth sense, and when she "read" Paige, she could tell the girl was trying to pathetically flirt with Emily. It was so obvious; the unnecessary touching, the giggling, the eye contact... Alison had known Paige had a crush on Emily for some time, it was the reason she had disliked her so much in the first place, but she didn't know Paige was that desperate.

"Really? That's amazing!" Emily responded in astonishment, oblivious to the blonde's current contempt towards the girl in front of them.

Alison's eyes instantly flew to Paige's hand which was touching Emily's shoulder. She gave Paige a death glare, which to her surprise, didn't scare Paige off. In fact, Paige went even further and started rubbing Emily's shoudler.

"It was pretty cool. Now you'll get to meet her too, Em," Paige said.

And that is when Alison finally snapped, veering her eyes quickly to Paige. The vile girl using Emily's nickname made Alison sick to her stomach, and she seriously just wanted to punch her in the face.

"Don't call her Em," Alison said in unmasked disgust, making a few people who were in the line around them give her an odd look.

"What's the matter, Alison? It's just a nickname. Just like I can call her mermaid," Paige replied smugly as she pulled her hand back from Emily and raised an eyebrow. Alison scoffed to herself at the girl's utter insolence.

"Yeah, a nickname. Just like I call you pigskin." Alison said sweetly.

Emily stood there in shock, rooted in her spot, not knowing what to say. She was well aware of her girlfriend's very obvious feud with Paige, and her teammate wasn't innocent in this either, but she knew Alison had the upper hand, being the queen of Rosewood, and she wished Alison would just, for once, drop the subject. Paige clenched her jaw, and the pure disdain was evident in her eyes.

"You're just mad I'll get to see Emily in a swim suit three times a week and you won't!" Paige said while smirking to herself. Emily watched the girls' interaction carefully, moving her head when each girl was talking, like a tennis match.

"Please, I don't need to see Emily in a swim suit. I can just see her naked whenever. I. Want," Alison responded smartly, making Emily choke at her tone. "Oh, you didn't know?" Alison asked in the most fake-sweet voice she could muster, "we're dating. So you can run along and cry to your precious daddy. Is he still that big ol' deacon at the church?" Paige gulped at the thought to Alison revealing her secret to her strict father, then opened her mouth to respond, but Alison beat her to it, "Think again, Pigskin. I own you now!"

Paige gave Alison a cold glare and then proceeded to stomp away heavily. Alison smirked widely in victory as she waved her fingers at Paige. "Leaving already? Bye, Paige," she called out charmingly.

Once Paige was out of sight, Emily turned to Alison. "Okay, what was that for?"

"What was what?" Alison asked faux-innocently.

"You just embarrassed her in front of everyone, Ali," Emily said softly.

"Em, just drop it, okay? Nobody was watching and she had it coming," Alison replied.

"She had it coming for what?" Emily asked naively.

"Em, don't you see it? She was totally hitting on you!" Alison pointed out, getting fussy about the brunette's innocence.

"Ali, she wasn't," Emily assured and Alison's raised eyebrow indicated that she didn't believe her. The brunette sighed at Alison's expression, adding, "Okay, okay, but even if she was, you should stop calling her Pigskin. Why do you call her that, anyway?" she asked, genuinely curious.

Alison turned to her scandalously, "'Cause she's got these weird bumps on her thighs. I mean, she says it's eczema, but I'm like, 'Honey, you better stop poking yourself below the equator.'"

Emily gave her a look that she couldn't decipher but Alison guessed it was masked disappointment. She couldn't help herself though, she really just hated Paige, and what occurred just minutes before only gave her more ammo to do so.

"Em, will you please stop looking at me like that?" Alison asked.

"I just- why did you two start fighting to begin with? I'm genuinely trying to understand," the brunette assured her, frowning in interest.

"What's the one thing me and Paige have in common, Emily?" Alison asked, trying to get the girl to fill in the blanks.

"I don't know... You're both in soccer?"

Alison chuckled at her girlfriend's innocence, "Well... yes. But that's not it. We both have you in our lives. And admittedly, she wants to steal you away faster than a fat kid steals a candy bar."

"But I'm with you, Ali. And I love you, not her," the brunette ensured her.

"It's sweet that you believe she wouldn't still try to snatch you away from my bare hands like the blood-sucking vulture that she is, but she will, trust me. That's why I'm very firm with her, so she'll understand that she doesn't stand a chance, okay?" Alison revealed a little more than she intended to, but it was simply to get the girl to understand things a bit better from her point of view.

Emily nodded slowly and looked away, still not completely placated. Alison nearly huffed. She had to do something to get the brunette to smile again. She hated making her upset.

"You know, I've always had a thing with nicknames," the blonde started and Emily turned back to look at her. "I have nicknames for just about half of our school. But my favorites will forever be yours," she said, noticing the way Emily's lips involuntarily tilted a bit.

"You probably have more nicknames than I can count, Em," Alison continued and smirked, wrapped her arms securely around Emily's neck, ignoring the huge crowd of people around them as she proceeded her attempt to lift the brunette's spirits. "Killer, Emmy... Babe," she smirked wider. "But my favorite one," the blonde leaned over so that her mouth was close to Emily's ear, whispering, "is Mermaid."

She pulled away and saw Emily giving her a sheepish smile with her cheeks flushed beautifully. She smiled right back as she drew away and grabbed her hand softly.

Being seen publicly with a girl was probably once the closest thing to Alison's worst nightmare, but at that moment, she couldn't help but dismiss that feeling entirely. Alison knew in her heart that she would always grab people's attention when she walked into a room. She would always be popular in Rosewood, or wherever she went. She would always have a bitchy, witty, bold part in her. None of that had anything to do with sexual orientation.

Alison knew she wasn't exactly gay, but she obviously wasn't straight either if she had these feelings for Emily. On the other hand, she wasn't sure if she was bisexual. She was Emily-sexual. 'I should have that tattooed,' Alison joked to herself.

She knew being in love with Emily wouldn't completely change her personality; people would still worship her feet, and that was why she wasn't and shouldn't be scared about being seen with a girl, being seen with Emily. She was and would always be a queen, and that didn't depend on who she was dating. She really wished she would have seen it earlier.

"Ali? Are you coming? They said we could go in," Emily waved her hand in front of Alison's face, making her return from her thoughts. The blonde nodded, slightly embarrassed at getting caught, and followed Emily inside a small room that was hidden away from the rest of the venue. There was a security guard in the entrance and both girls showed him a card they had gotten earlier to allow them to meet Missy Franklin. He nodded at them and opened the door.

Inside, they saw a tall, light-brunette woman whom Alison assumed to be Missy Franklin. She glanced over to Emily who seemed completely starstruck and giggled as she pulled out her phone, set to record every second of the magical moment. Alison knew Emily would thank her later for documenting her encounter with Missy, but she mostly did it for herself. She just wanted to have a video of her girlfriend being so blindingly happy.

Emily was talking to Missy and hugging her, babbling nonsense and almost on a verge of tears. "Hey, Em, go stand next to her, I'll take a picture," Alison suggested, amused. Emily obeyed and stood next to the even taller swimmer. Alison smirked as she took the picture and sent it to the group chat.

"It was so nice to meet you," Emily said to Missy as the guard signaled her to hurry up.

"Very nice to meet you too, Emily, and good luck with your swimming! Do that method I told you in your backstroke, it'll blow your coach right away," Missy said kindly as she waved her and Alison goodbye.

As Emily exited the room, grinning from ear to ear like a little kid in a candy shop, Alison couldn't help but lean over and kiss Emily on the cheek. She loved seeing Emily so upbeat, it looked adorable on her.

Emily's smile widened as she turned to Alison. "What was that for?" she asked shyly.

"You just look so cute when you're like this. I should take you to meet Olympic swimmers more often," Alison teased.

"Do that and I'll marry you," Emily joked, shyly playing along.

"Hmm, sounds very tempting," Alison said sweetly as she intertwined her fingers with Emily's. "By the way, if I recall correctly, you owe me a date," she stated as they finally exited the building and went into the parking lot.

"I'm happy to pay my dues, Ali," Emily responded lovingly, still on cloud nine. They walked past the parking lot to go to the bus that would take them back home. They were about to reach the station when they heard a car honking at them.

"Alison, Emily, get in!" They turned to see Noel Kahn in the passenger seat of a four seat silver convertible. Alison recognised the driver as Matt Cannon, a junior who was in the football team with Noel.

Emily gave Alison a confused look as Alison strolled over to the car. "What do you want, Noel?" the blonde asked dryly.

"To give you ladies a ride," Noel responded casually.

"Why?" Alison questioned warily.

"Must you question everything I do?"

"Yes, Noel, I must. You're you," Alison responded cynically.

"Oh, come on, Ali, we used to be close. I thought we were past the whole 'not supporting your relationship' thing after that party." Alison raised her eyebrow at him and he sighed, taking a more serious tone. "Look, the truth is, you're actually my best female friend and I honestly don't care which gender you date, okay? I just want to help," Noel confessed and both Emily and Alison's expressions somewhat softened.

Alison had known Noel extremely well for years now, considering their families were very close and she practically grew up next to him. She knew him well enough to know that if he said something like that, then he must've meant it.

She sighed heavily, then grabbed Emily's hand once more and reassuringly pulled her into the back seat of the convertible. Matt drove off towards their part of Rosewood and Alison spoke up curiously, "Did you really mean that, Noel? Am I your best female friend?"

"Yeah, you are, Ali. Look, I know we sort of drifted apart, but something happened and I just... need a friend right now. You're one of the only people who actually know me," Noel responded truthfully as he turned to look at her from the passenger seat, shocking her.

"What happened? Is something wrong at home?" Alison asked concernedly.

The truth was, she had always cared profoundly about Noel, even if she tried not to. Their years growing up together had made them into close friends for a big portion of her life, before they drifted apart sometime ago due to different social circles in school. She had her group of friends and he was the leader of the jock squad. But after all this time, she knew she was his best female friend as much as he was her best guy friend. Sure, they had made out one or two times when they were drunk but she had always looked at him only as a friend. She knew that under the whole douchebag facade, he was actually a decent guy. He was like another brother to her, or at least he used to be.

When Noel didn't respond nor deny her statement, she knew that that was the case. She exhaled a breath, "It's okay, just tell me later. Emily and I are going to see a movie but you should swing by afterwards."

"Thanks, Ali," he said and she recognized the grateful undertone to his words.

It was rare to see the soft side of Noel, but when you did, you knew he meant every word he said.

Alison smiled genuinely and looked over to Emily who stared at her proudly. Matt soon pulled over at Emily's house, allowing the girls to hop out. Alison waved goodbye at Noel and he waved back while Matt drove off.

It was the afternoon when the girls stepped into Emily's house. They did it quite hesitantly, since it hasn't been that long since Emily's parents found out about them, merely a few days, in fact.

They found Emily's father near the foyer, putting on his jacket. He apparently saw their apprehension and smiled reassuringly. "Hey, Alison, nice to see you," he said with a kind smile, which the blonde hastily returned. "Emmy, did you get my text message?" he asked and the brunette shook her head at the question. "Well, perhaps it's better if I just ask now, since Alison is already here. Your mother wanted to invite Alison's parents over for dinner tomorrow night," Wayne finished as he smiled at both girls. "Considering the recent circumstances, we both agreed that it would be best if we were all open with one another and perhaps got to know each other better."

Emily gave her father a beaming smile at the fantastic idea that Alison couldn't help but mirror. "Sure, Mr. Fields. I'll have to ask my parents but I think they'll be up for it," Alison replied.

"Great. Your mother's actually pretty excited, she loves hosting," he said to Emily with an amused smile. "Well, I'm off to the gym. Still have a training schedule even when I'm away from the base. Bye, girls. I'll see you later tonight, Emmy," he kissed the top of Emily's head and exited out the front door.

Alison and Emily walked up to the brunette's room and began getting ready to go to the movies. "What do you think tomorrow night's going to be like?" Emily asked absentmindedly as she finished dressing up in a black, white and red plaid over a white shirt, combat boots and skinny jeans from her closet.

"A little awkward, I think. At least at first until we all adjust to this situation. Do you think they know we're having sex?" Alison asked as she turned to Emily who stuttered in surprise, struggling to answer. Alison giggled and smirked to herself, "I'm just kidding, Em. Geez. You really are shy on the streets, aren't you?" Alison laughed and received a pillow to the face, courtesy of Emily.

"Em, what the hell? I just did my make-up!" Alison let out in dismay. Emily chuckled lightly, which developed to heavy laughter at Alison's expression. "That's it, you're dead," Alison said threateningly and walked over to the bed. She practically dropped on top of Emily, straddling her lap and tickling her sides. Emily laughed loudly and begged her to stop, making Alison only tickle her harder.

The blonde eventually stopped, stepped off of Emily and smirked. "Next time don't ruin my make-up before a date," she joked, breathing heavily, and went back to the mirror. Emily's breathing calmed down and she got up, walking over to Alison.

"But you don't even need make-up, Ali," Emily said gently as she wrapped her arms around Alison's waist and hugged her from behind. Alison smiled at Emily through the reflection in the mirror and turned around in her arms. She leaned in and kissed Emily sweetly.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Alison pulled back. "Well, not all of us are as naturally beautiful as you are, Em. But thank you," she said genuinely, not giving Emily space to argue, before looking at a clock behind the brunette. "We better get going if we want to make it on time."

Emily nodded in agreement before grabbing Alison's hand and leading her out of the house and towards the movies for their first official date.